Battered potato plants are seen in a field on Olivet Road in Pittsgrove Township Friday. The plants were damaged by a severe hail storm which moved through the area Thursday afternoon.
(Staff Photo by Bill Gallo Jr.)

New Jersey agriculture officials spent Friday assessing crop damage from a heavy hailstorm that swept through Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties Thursday night, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

"It was a very intense storm. If you were on one side of it you were perfectly fine, but if you happened to be in the path of it chances are you lost everything," New Jersey Department of Agriculture Secretary Douglas Fisher said.

At one farm in South Harrison Township, Fisher said an orchard had all of the baby peaches stripped off by the trees by the hail.

"There was no evidence it was ever there," he said.

An asparagus field had spears broken and split by the hail which meant two lost days of cuttings. Fisher also saw a zucchini field where the crop was ruined.

The secretary also Friday saw farm trucks with "pings" in their hoods from being struck by the hail. At a farm outside of Woodstown, Fisher said, there were reports that farm vehicles had windows broken out.

As he toured the area, Fisher said farmers recounted for him what they described as "unbelievable downpour of hail."

Battered pea plants are seen in a field on Olivet Road in Pittsgrove Township Friday. The plants were damaged by a severe hail storm which moved through the area Thursday. Staff Photo by Bill Gallo Jr.

The hail was produced by a strong line of storms that swept into South Jersey from the northwest late Thursday afternoon.

The strongest storms — the ones that included the hail — moved from northern Delaware through southern Gloucester County, into Salem County and then into Cumberland County. Along that line heavy rain fell accompanied by lightning and the hail.

The National Weather Service said some of the hail stones measured as much as one and three quarters inches across.

Fisher said the state Agriculture Department had received other reports of crop damage in the Mullica Hill, Swedesboro, Aldine, Elmer and Deerfield areas.

He said no dollar figure on the damage is available, but those with losses could be eligible for aid.

The hail damaged a large number of crops. Along Olivet Road, in Pittsgrove Township, Friday damage was evident in a potato and nearby pea field.

Other reports said some farmers in eastern Salem County lost a variety of plants, including tomatoes, because of the storm.

Sparacio Farms on Landis Avenue in Deerfield Township, known for its strawberries, posted a note on its website that the storm had "damaged the crop severely." But on its Facebook page, there was good news — the U-Pick fields would open Saturday and there were berries available for at the farm stand for those not into picking their own.

"As bad as it was, it could have been much, much worse," Fisher said. Since it is still early in the growing season, some heavily damaged crops can be replanted, he said.

"It's part of the whole business," Fisher said. "Farmers are always working against the elements."

Fisher also said while some of the crop damage was severe, it was also very isolated.

He also noted that the damage from the hailstorm should not impact the overall harvest of Jersey Fresh products.